Newsbits January 2011

“The critical reflex for such singers who appear vaguely “kooky” – Bat For Lashes, Alison Goldfrapp, Florence Welch – is to compare them to Kate Bush. Denny is more seldom invoked, which seems unfair, as she was the one who opened the way for others to follow .. She died – aged 32, of a brain injury resulting from a fall – in 1978, the year Kate Bush, the most iconic, unconventional and self-reliant female artist of the 1980s, released her first recordings (Bush namechecked her on Never For Ever)” Guardian 8th January … “Three Potential Royal Wedding Singers who may not be considered, but should be include Kate Bush, Dido and Annie Lennox” Pam Gaulin Celebs 11th January … “Guy Pearce admits he loved working with Kate Winslet on the Depression-era drama Mildred Pierce because he has a bit of a crush on most Kates: “Ahhh Kate Bush, still is in fact [my biggest crush] – it’s her voice, how she looks, just the strange unique creature that she is!” Guy insisted” PA 16th January … “The overall effect is so gripping, so chilling even, that it wouldn’t be remiss to mention this song in the same breath as another great anti-war lament by a British female genius – namely, Kate Bush’s ‘Army Dreamers'” Nick Levine  on The Words that Maketh Murder by PJ Harvey Digital Spy 17th January …

“The press release further cites the band’s musical influences as including Morbid Angel, Emperor, Darkthrone, Neurosis, and…Kate Bush? Kate Bush? I guess that’s cool…? I mean, my mom likes Kate Bush. Oh wait, no…she doesn’t. So not even my mom likes Kate Bush. My mom is more metal.” Chris Harris on Dark Meditations in Monastic Seclusion the new album by Shroud of Despondency Gun Shy Assasin 21st January … “Many years ago, while up a hill with the Kate Bush Fan Club eating magic fudge, Zoe stumbled upon the secret of inner peace. Just live life and be happy” Preview of Zoe Lyons ‘Clownbusting’ show Liverpool Echo 21st January … “When you like everything from Dethklok to Kate Bush, I figure there has to be some sort of unifying theme. And I think it’s this: I don’t like music that feels ungrounded. You can’t kick me in the ass if you don’t have a foot on the floor. I don’t like wimpy music. (This one is hard to explain. I’ll have to try to expound on it in future entries.) I don’t like jangly guitars. I don’t like music that feels unwieldy or feels as if it’s floating in the ether. Even though Kate’s stuff is somewhat ethereal, her songs have a certain…insistence…to them that keeps them grounded” Beth Spencer Digital Artist 21st January …

“ISR: Where do you see yourself five years from now? TAIO – I would love to be having lunch with Kate Bush” interview with Break-our new wave band Kites Indie Soup 21st January … “Gemini gets a U.S. release in February with the cover of Cloudbusting the “expansion”. Wild Nothing’s dreamy, shoegaze-type sound is a perfect fit for this interpretation of the Kate Bush song and Wild Nothing, essentially a one-man show,  renders it in a heavenly, ethereal manner that is quite delightful” Review Grounds for Appeal 22nd January … “Mila Soldatic is singing Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. Mila sings this operatic song well, although not sure how many people will remember this song when it comes to voting. She is draped in a gold skirt.  She has a bit of a scary gaze when she looks into the camera” Report on Croatia heat for Eurovision 2011 Oikotimes 22nd January … “The first gig I ever had was engineer on Kate Bush’s first album. We used to go out for a joint every morning, and I would spend the rest of the day trying to pretend I wasn’t stoned out of my box. I used to blush whenever I spoke to her, she was that good-looking. I was only nineteen” Ian Maclean now head of A&R somewhere The Fantastic Hope 22nd January … Kate Bush vs Prince mashup Vicious Imagery 23rd January … Dinosaur Dinosaur’s cover of Running Up That Hill Silent Shout 23rd January …

“The record features .. a clutch of cover versions, including a faithfully high-pitched take on Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights” Nick Bond’s review of Robyn Loau’s second solo album Sydney Star Observer 24th January … Just in case you missed it I Love Kate Bush – a blog … and the Kate Bush Appreciation thread on Digital Spy … “What I’m going for is to make music that’s emotional and honest. I mean, I grew up listening to Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, singing songs about making deals with God and all that. It doesn’t all have to be about falling in love, meeting the right person, being in a club and being rich and dancing around!” Natalia Kills Boston Pheonix 26th January … The Old Cheeser reviews Graeme Thompson 29th January … and another Kate Bush blog Babushka Kate Bush … the Bronte Blog spots new cover versions of Kate’s first single 31st January … and Cat Party are having a Kate Bush appreciation week.